Taking nothing away from "Awakenings" as a film - it's brilliant, and very very moving.... but next time you watch it, take some account of the music that Randy Newman wrote for the film - even just the background stuff while Robin Williams looks through a textbook, or while he does the "dropped glasses" routine with the character Lucy Fishman. Randy's tunes are deceptively simple, but they add so much (for me) to the whole presentation.
shareRight on, Peter. The music in this film was very touching and really well composed considering the whole concept of this movie.
One question about it... is the music in anyway specified, I mean is it just that "background stuff" or did Newman wrote several pieces?
I was wondering the scene (if I remember now correctly, a few years since I last time saw Awakenings...) where Miller and de Niro dance silently together and the she says goodbye, de Niro watches out from the window.... that was such a sad scene and the piano music in the background really in my view brought the emotions to the surface. Does that music/piece have some name?
The name is Dexter's Tune. I also enjoy the music from this film!
shareMuch obliged, Dom! Oh man, I wish I could get the sheets for it. I play by ear so lousy. :)
The soundtrack has been out of print for some time. The only place that I know of it (recorded) is in the 4-disc, Randy Newman anthology "Guilty" . . . I spent the $40 JUST to get a hard copy of "Dexter's Tune." It's absolutely beautiful, and was definitely a key factor in producing the "waterfall" at the end of the movie.
shareI must find this soundtrack. This is only one of 2 soundtracks that can get me to cry on demand. The other being "Glory".
shareThe soundtrack is available on iTunes. I downloaded Dexter's Tune some time ago. Now I'm watching the film again - and downloaded the rest of the album.
Newman captures the heart of this story so well.
I recently watched this movie again. It was aired on the Antenna TV channel the other day. I first saw it back in the early nineties after it had been released to video. I really appreciated watching it the second time around. Not only was this movie extremely underrated (a great job by Penny Marshall), I agree that the musical score by Randy Newman was heartwarming and superb. While Randy is known by most people for his silly and schmaltzy songs like "Short People", I Love LA", and songs from the "Toy Story" movies, I think he is a very underrated composer for brilliant scores in movies like "The Natural", "Seabiscuit". "Avalon", and especially "Awakenings" which I think is one of his best.
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Agreed. A good music score will often make or break a film. 1) Little Women (1994) 2) Monster's Ball 3) Lolita (1997)
Many otherwise mediocre or sappy flick are watchable only because of the score.
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agreed, brilliant music in every scene.
shareAgreed - Newman added quite a bit to the greatness of the film.
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